Last Word: My Indictment of the CIA in the Murder of JFK

In his third book on the Kennedy assassination (Plausible Denial), attorney Lane builds a circumstantial case for CIA involvement—though in an appendix he says he does not identify “those who assassinated” Kennedy because he has been “unable to secure sufficient factual information.” Lane breaks down the assassination into all of its moving parts and examines the actions of Secret Service agents who many agree botched protocol. Lane says the Warren Commission report on the assassination was awash with faulty logic, twisting forensic evidence to fit its preconception that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone shooter. Lane’s contention about the CIA’s role rests on reports that the agency feared Kennedy might disband it after the Bay of Pigs; there was also anger at the president’s attempts to interact peacefully with Castro. The CIA, Lane says, made Oswald the fall guy and provided men found on the “grassy knoll”—where many believe the deadly shots were fired—with Secret Service credentials. Lane has been vilified by the CIA and also has his supporters, but this book is hardly the “last word.” (Nov.)