29 January, 2021|The District of Columbia Circuit amended its Judgment to correct an error and the AARC is petitioning for rehearing en banc.

In 2017, AARC filed suit under the Freedom of Information Act in Washington D.C. to obtain documents from the CIA related to its study of the July 20, 1944 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler to develop a plan to overthrow Fidel Castro in Fall 1963. The basis of the request is a formerly Top Secret Joints Chiefs of Staff memo dated September 25, 1963 found by Bill Kelly.

Memo for the Record, 202-10001-10028, page 3: Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting of 25 SEPTEMBER, 1963. Briefing by Mr. Desmond FitzGerald on CIA Cuban Operations and Planning

The memo records a briefing by Desmond Fitzgerald, CIA’s head of anti-Castro operations. Fitzgerald tells the Joint Chiefs that CIA is studying the plot to kill Hitler in depth to come up with an approach to dealing with Castro. The timing of this study is contemporary to the lead-up to President Kennedy’s assassination, and government bodies that have investigated the JFK assassination have been concerned that such activity may have caused or been linked to the President’s assassination. Doc 1, pg. 3 JCS Briefing, 25 September, 1963

AARC filed a FOIA request in 2012 with CIA asking for information related to the CIA’s study of the Hitler plot to deal with Castro. CIA initially stated they could find no records, then retracted, and said they were still looking. After lengthy delays, CIA reverted to its earlier position and stated it could find no records. AARC filed suit in federal court.

BACKGROUND: UPDATE: AARC FOIA suit on CIA’s 1963 study of plots to assassinate Adolf Hitler

2021 UPDATE: AARC v. CIA13 Petition for rehearing en banc with attachments as filied(1)

APPELLANT’S PETITION FOR REHEARING OR PETITION FOR REHEARING EN BANC
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT
D.C. Cir. No. 18-5280
======================
ASSASSINATION ARCHIVES AND RESEARCH CENTER,
Appellant/Petitioner,
v.
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY,
Appellee/Defendant.
==========================
On Appeal from the United States District Court for the
District of Columbia, Hon. Trevor N. McFadden, District Judge, Cv. no. 17-0160
==========================
Daniel S. Alcorn
D.C. Bar No. xxxxxx
xxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxx
McLean, VA 22101
Phone (xxx) xxx-xxxx
Email: xxxxxx@xxxx.xxx
Counsel for Appellant
James H. Lesar, #xxxxxx
xxx xxxxx xxx
Unit xx
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Phone: (xxx) xxx-xxxx
Email: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx
Counsel for Appellant
Dated: January 29, 2021
USCA Case #18-5280 Document #1882637 Filed: 01/29/2021 Page 1 of 22

Relevant to the AARC’s efforts to seek the release of critical assassination-related materials being withheld by the U.S. federal government:

In the Supreme Court of the United States. ____________________

Assassination Archives and Research Center,

Petitioner,

-v-

Central Intelligence Agency,

Respondent. _____________________

On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit _____________________

PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI ____________________

This Court granted of a writ of certiorari on February 28, 2020 in case # 19-547, Fish and Wildlife Serv., et al. v. Sierra Club, Inc. That case presents an issue closely similar to one in Petitioner’s case involving the deliberate process privilege under Exemption 5 of the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(5). The results of the two cases arising from different circuits are in conflict. The Fish and Wildlife Service case presents an issue of compelled release under the FOIA of draft documents for which the government asserts a deliberative process privilege under FOIA Exemption 5. Petitioner AARC’s case involves the Central Intelligence Agency’s successful assertion of the Exemption 5 deliberative process privilege for information reflecting CIA’s search activities in responding to Petitioner’s FOIA request. Petitioner’s FOIA request relates to a matter of public importance- new information about the circumstances of the assassination of President Kennedy.

AARC v. CIA12 cert petition

AARC v. CIA12 final appendix