The following message is from the JFK Forum on Compuserve. It is posted here with the permission of David Lifton. It concerns one of the many factoids of this case: the claim that Robert Kennedy, shortly before he died, said that "only the powers of the Presidency will reveal the secrets of my brother's death." Such a statement would imply (1) that Bobby had come to believe there was a conspiracy, and (2) he intended to "get to the bottom" of the case if elected. Like many stories that seem "too good to be true," this one is indeed untrue. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- #: 20204 S4/Medical Evidence [JFK] 02-Apr-94 03:34:05 Sb: #18902-Gary, My Albatross Fm: David S. Lifton 72303,2702 To: Alan Rogers 73040,2063 This is from memory, so pardon possible innaccuracies, but here's what happened. In June 1968, RFK was in Los Angeles, and spoke at (what was then) San Fernando Valley College (now, Cal State/Northridge, near the epicenter of our recent 6.8 quake). Standing before mikes, a visibly annoyed RFK was asked by shouting and very emotional students, "What about the JFK assassination?" "Will you reopen the case?" etc. He replied that he had seen everything in the "Warren Report", or some such thing, and that no, he would not reopen the case. This interchange was broadcast on the media repeatedly that night, and it is somewhere in my tape collection. It was a major news story that day. I clearly remember feeling a sense of anger and betrayal that RFK would not make even a peep about having any doubt about the WR, or re-opening the case---and by June 1968, we already had Inquest, Rush to Judgement (summer, 1966) and Meagher's Accessories after the Fact (fall, 1967), so anyone intelligent enough to read knew there was plenty wrong with the Warren Report. Yet faced with the spontaneous outburst at this college, RFK wouldn't budge. I cannot say enough about the dismay I felt watching him behave that way---and I was joined by any number of others, at the time. Then, RFK was assassinated---and I don't think it was more than 24 hours after that shooting, that Mark Lane was on the media (in Boston, as I recall) stating something along these lines---that he knew from Garrison, that an RFK "emissary" had been sent to Garrison who stated that there were "guns between me and the White House." This was considered ridiculous by those who knew RFK's antagonism towards the Garrison investigation (as I recall, he asked his friend and former aid Walter Sheridan to look into it, and Sheridan reported back that the Garrison case was a farce. Sheridan then was a force in putting together the NBC documentary that attacked Garrison). I remember in particular Sylvia Meagher's anger at the fact that no sooner than RFK was dead than this story was being spread around. It seemed obvious at the time it was false. Then, the myth germinated and grew. In 1984, John Davis book---THE KENNEDYS---appeared. His chapter 55 ("The Mysteries") closed with the following passage: "Robert Kennedy's sense of guilt must have been overwhelming. There was no way he could expiate that guilt. However, if he were to become President, it was conceivable he could make up, at least in part, for what happened to Jack, and might even be in a position to uncover and punish those who were responsible for his brother's assassination. 'I now fully realize,' he told an audience of students at San Fernando State College on June 3, 1968, that only the powers of the Presidency will reveal the secrets of my brother's death.' Three days later he himself was dead, the victim also of an assassin's bullet." (pp. 602-603, paperback). Oh really. Is that what RFK said? Well, Pat Lambert, my long time friend, was there, when the questioning of RFK occurred, and she didn't hear any such thing; and exactly the opposite was broadcast, repeatedly, by the media. And I can assure you that had RFK said any such thing, it would have been major news---major national news. After the appearance in 1984 of Davis' book, Pat Lambert wrote Davis a diplomatic but very detailed letter explaining that she was there, that no such dialogue occurred, that the only thing RFK said was the opposite, that tapes existed etc. I believe I dubbed a copy of my tape and we sent it to Davis. The myth persists. It has made me wonder why. I'm afraid it has to do with the interplay between our expections and what really happened. Anyway, wouldn't it be nice if RFK was the kind of fellow who in fact said the things we all wished he said? I have yet to see any evidence that he did so. In fact, for 3 decades, the Kennedy family in general has followed policies that seem focused on promoting the careers and potential candidacies of their offspring, and not to answer the basic question: who killed JFK? They live in the expectation that someday, JFK will be remembered each May, on his birthday, rather than November 22 each year. I'm afraid that won't happen until the mystery of Dallas is solved.