Prof G. Robert Blakey reflects upon his experience as Chief Counsel of the House Select Committee on Assassinations detailing the impact and consequences of having relied upon promises of co-operation by the CIA during that investigation.

In this unprecedented address, Professor Blakey reflects upon his experience as Chief Counsel of the House Select Committee on Assassinations, detailing the impact and consequences of having relied upon promises of cooperation by the CIA during that investigation. The recounting of his experiences, and subsequent realizations that his investigators were undermined by a concerted defiance of the spirit and authority of constitutional checks and balances, raises issues of continuing relevance to public interest and concern over the meaning and effectiveness of congressional oversight. These issues are significant as they relate not exclusively to our government's investigation of President Kennedy's murder, but also to today's revelations about the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Activities and its investigation of allegations against the CIA. These questions force us to examine our most basic assumptions about democratic accountability. "So my position about the agency is they didn't cooperate with us, they affirmatively made an effort not to cooperate with us, and therefore everything that they told us is a lie. And all the statements in the report about cooperation, it's just false. We were had." - G. Robert Blakey. Professor G. Robert Blakey, J.D.: An attorney and law professor. Special Attorney in the Justice Department under Robert Kennedy. Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) from 1977 to 1979.—Official Synopsis - Professor G. Robert Blakey