Anatomy and REVERSE Chronology of the Fight to Correct History and Efforts by TV Networks to Prevent Correction

Revised/REVERSED January 8, 1998

The Cusack Collection of Documents was on its way to changing history until September 25, 1997, the date on which ABC 20/20 and other ABC Defendants aired their alleged news story charging that the Documents were forgeries.

The chronology and anatomy to correct this historical falsehood begins on such date, September 25, 1997.

Here are the major events, as they develop:

01/07/98 Cusack/Cloud Plaintiffs together with 70 Document Purchasers, representing 129 persons with interests in the Documents, and persons who appeared on 11/23/97 60 Minutes Segment brought action in New York State Supreme Court against 60 Minutes, CBS, Inc., Don Hewitt, producer Michael Radutzky, co-producer Jonathan Wells, expert Duayne Dillon, author Seymour Hersh, and Kennedy collector Robert L. White Copy of 98-page Verified Complaint - WARNING! 200K or Summary of Verified Complaint - WARNING! 63K;
12/23/97 Jeffrey Jatras, purchaser of one of the Documents, helps by creating an affiliate website for the 15-page trust agreement, Manhattan College 6/12/62 commencement invitation and pages from the 6/12/62 Manhattan College Commencement Program with thumbnail pictures of each page which, upon a click of any page, will exand into a full page; you can see these pages by clicking on Thumbnail/Full-Page Graphics of 15-Page Trust Agreement, 6/12/62 Commencement Invitation and Pages from 6/12/62 Commence Program;
12/23/97 Expert Robert L. White announces through national news broadcasts that he is auctioning off some of his JFK collection at Sotheby's, including JFK pens, a JFK diary, 2 JFK rocking chairs, and a boat owned by JFK.
12/23/97 Famous JFK author supplies forensic evidence to Cusack/Cloud's attorney.
12/22/97 Final installment of documents delivered to the grand jury.
12/22/97 In a Media Ink column (4 columns with pictures of JFK and Hersh) by Michael Shain published at p. 63 of The New York Post, Business Section, weekend edition, entitled "'Fake' JFK Documents to be Published", Shain stated: "says Peter Miller, the literary agent for Cusack, 'We absolutely believe they're real.'" and Shain went on to sagely observe: "The question of authenticity is a two-edged sword for a number of people involved in the case. * * * Little, Brown ... decided early on not to reprint the papers because of the potential of a lawsuit from the Kennedy family." Shain ended his column with: "Working title: 'Legacy: The Lawrence Cusack and John F. Kennedy Papers.'" The caption under 2 pictures reads: "Docu-Drama: The documents that author Seymour Hersh rejected from his JFK book are drawing publishers' attention."
12/22/97 In the same PW article (at p. 15), Hersh is quoted as follows: "There is something enchanting about the idea of a secret cache of Kennedy documents. I love the irony of being held to this amazing standard not to have even followed this lead - and now others are chasing it."
12/22/97 Publishers Weekly (at p. 15) publishes favorable article "Regnery May Publish Hot Kennedy Papers" about the JFK Papers and the efforts by Lawrence Cusack and his attorney, Carl Person, to obtain a publisher, quoting the prospective publisher, Regnery Publishing, Inc., located in Washington, D.C., as saying "Regnery's Vigilante told PW that the Washington, D.C.-based house, known for publishing conservative works, will conduct its own investigation to assure the papers' authenticity. 'We wouldn't want to get involved if we weren't convinced they were real,' he said. 'If it turns out that we think the documents are genuine and 'everyone' knows they're fake, that's a situation we're comfortable with,' he said."
12/19/97-12/21/97 Attorney for Cusack/Cloud Plaintiffs obtains expert forensic witnesses and reviews facts with them;
12/17/97 Attorney for Cusack/Cloud Plaintiffs renews his efforts for Cusack/Cloud Plaintiffs to tell their story on the Larry King Show;
12/17/97 Attorney for Cusack/Cloud Plaintiffs is interviewed by Publishers Weekly for an article on the difficulty of finding a book publisher when many of them are owned by the media companies being sued by such plaintiffs;
12/12/97 Cloud/Cusack Plaintiffs obtain authentication of the signatures and handwriting on the 6/12/62 Manhattan College commencement invitation from expert Diane Hamilton;
12/12/97 During copying of documents for grand jury, Cusack/Cloud Attorney's Office discovers the "Smoking Gun", consisting of an original printed invitation to attend the Manhattan College Commence Exercises to be held on June 12, 1962 with handwritten notes to Lawrence X. Cusack, II by Robert F. Kennedy ("Larry - notes from J. [meaning from Jack, and signed at the bottom] ROBERT F. KENNEDY" and on the right-hand side, the following note: "L - [meaning Larry] My best wishes - wish I could attend. See you for lunch. Have Bobby buy you one for me. [signed] JACK KENNEDY". Inside of Invitation to Manhattan College Commencement Exercises of June 12, 1962 with handwritten notes to Lawrence X. Cusack, II - WARNING! 84K ; Cover of Invitation to Manhattan College Commencement Exercises of June 12, 1962 - WARNING! 98K ; and 5th Page of Program for June 12, 1962 Manhattan College with Robert F. Kennedy's original signature written "To Larry -" Lawrence X. Cusack, II or perhaps a member of his family such as Lawrence (Lex) X. Cusack, III (then 10 years old) Page 5 of Program of Commencement Exercises with Signature of Robert F. Kennedy- WARNING! 163K - note and signature are on left side, mid-page;
c. 12/04/97-present Cusack/Cloud Plaintiffs and others prepare to bring an action against 60 Minutes and others relating to the 60 Minutes Segment for alleged fraud, defamation, disparagement of property, breach of contract, interference with advantageous relationships, unjust enrichment;
11/25/97 Seymour Hersh appears on CNBC Hardball Show hosted by Christopher Matthews and states that the Cusack/Kennedy Documents may be real Quotation of Hersh from CNBC Show of 11/25/97;
11/24/97 Cusack/Cloud Plaintiffs execute and transmit Repurchase Agreement Repurchase Agreement to each of the 140 persons who purchased one or more of the Documents, promising them an option to have their Documents repurchased by the Cusack/Cloud Plaintiffs out of their first net recovery, if any, in their suit against the defendants in the ABC Complaint, without giving up any other rights they may have against the Cusack/Cloud Plaintiffs;
11/23/97 60 Minutes Segment appears in which Dillon allegedly states that the Documents (meaning all 350 Documents, more than 700 pages of Documents) are forgeries;
11/21/97 Cusack/Cloud Plaintiffs file their action against the ABC Defendants, the New Yorker magazine Defendants and the Vanity Fair magazine Defendants (hereinafter referred to as the "ABC Complaint"); a summary of the the ABC Complaint may be read at Summary of ABC Complaint - WARNING! 28K; and a copy of the ABC Complaint may be seen at ABC Complaint - WARNING! 148K
11/21/97 Cusack/Cloud Plaintiffs are warned by other media that the CBS 60 Minutes Segment on 11/23/97 is going to be highly unfavorable to them;
11/18/97-present Cusack Plaintiffs are interviewing book publishers to present the Documents and the story behind their suppression in book form;
11/05/97-present Cusack/Cloud Plaintiffs are turning over documents to the United States Attorney in charge of the grand jury investigation, including a copy of the ABC Complaint and the Repurchase Agreement;
11/05/97 60 Minutes advises Cusack/Cloud Plaintiffs that Dillon's opinion is negative; but his opinion will be given no more weight than any of Plaintiffs' experts (such as Diane Hamilton and Charles Hamilton) who have the contrary opinion;
11/04/97 Dillon goes to Kennedy Library in Boston to study Kennedy handwriting; spends maximum of one day at Library; sees no original documents;
11/03/97 60 Minutes announces to Cusack/Cloud Plaintiffs that Dillon is not able to reach an opinion on the JFK handwritten Documents;
10/31/97-11/03/97 60 Minutes retained alleged expert Duayne Dillon, who has no previous experience with JFK or Marilyn Monroe handwriting, comes to NYC to work out of 60 Minutes' offices at 555 W. 57th Street (9th Floor) and review about 25 Documents, some JFK and some Marilyn Monroe (and including the 5 or 6 pages of documents disputed by ABC); Cusack/Cloud Plaintiffs spend full-time cooperating with the expert, providing whatever 60 Minutes asked, including calling upon outsiders with relevant documents to bring them to 60 Minutes' offices; Dillon spends 4-5 days looking at Kennedy handwriting and hopefully a textbook provided by the Cusack/Cloud Plaintiffs (which was written and updated by expert Diane Hamilton and her late husband, Charles Hamilton, on how to analyze JFK's handwriting);
late 10/97-early 11/97 60 Minutes calls each of plaintiffs' experts and solicits them to back off from (i.e, withdraw) their authentications, during period that 60 Minutes is telling Plaintiffs that all of these experts stand by their authentications;
c. 10/28/97 60 Minutes and other CBS Defendants announce they are going to hire an expert to look at some of the Documents; even though no expert up to that time had said, after studying the Documents, that the handwriting on any of the Documents was not authentic;
10/21/97-11/21/97 Cusack/Cloud interests and others in their support, including JFK/MM handwriting expert Diane Hamilton and various purchasers of the Documents, cooperate with 60 Minutes concerning the promised 60 Minutes Segment;
10/22/97 Cusack/Cloud Plaintiffs cancel Larry King appearance and refrain from filing their action against the ABC Defendants and other media;
10/21/97 Cusack/Cloud interests meet with 60 Minutes producers, including Executive Producer Don Hewitt, who agree to produce a 60 Minutes segment in which the Cusack/Cloud interests will present their side of the controversy with ABC Defendants and to question ABC's journalistic practices regarding their journalistic treatment of (i.e., disregarding) the monumental historical information underlying the Documents; 60 Minutes conditions involvement upon not appearing on Larry King Show and upon not filing action against ABC until eve of 60 Minutes Show;
Late 10/97 Other media including New Yorker Magazine and Vanity Fair magazine republish essentially the same defamatory allegations about the Documents;
10/19/97 Newspapers announce that a grand jury investigation has been commenced concerning the Documents and obviously various persons involved with the Documents, including the Cusack/Cloud interests
10/22/97 Cusack/Cloud Plaintiffs retain New York lawyer (Carl E. Person) to commence action against the ABC Defendants;
10/17-20/97 The Cusack/Cloud interests book (i.e, agree) to go on the Larry King Show for a total of two hours to air their side of the issue;

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Anatomy and REVERSE Chronology of the Fight to Correct History and Efforts by TV Networks to Prevent Correction

Revised/REVERSED January 8, 1998

Copyright © 1997 by Carl E. Person