What was the FBI hiding about the late Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy’s sordid past?

Judicial Watch finally found out when we obtained previously redacted material from the FBI file of the late Massachusetts Democrat who died in August 2009 from brain cancer. We got the records pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, originally filed on June 9, 2010. And they make for a fascinating read.

Of particular interest is a December 28, 1961, FBI memo describing a tour of several Latin American countries taken by then-Assistant District Attorney of Suffolk County Kennedy.

Judicial Watch had previously obtained this very memo, but the document that was originally made public was almost completely redacted. After an initial challenge by Judicial Watch, a version with fewer redactions was released. Still not satisfied, our legal team continued to argue that the blackouts were baseless and, after six more months, the FBI relented.

So here are the statements the FBI tried to keep secret but were recently made available to Judicial Watch:

•“While Kennedy was in Santiago he made arrangements to ‘rent’ a brothel for an entire night. Kennedy allegedly invited one of the Embassy chauffeurs to participate in the night’s activities.”
•“[I]n each country Kennedy insisted on interviewing ‘the angry young men’ of the country. He wanted to meet with communists and others who had left-wing views. …Ambassador Freeman, Bogota, said the first person whom Kennedy wanted to meet was Lauchlin Currie.” (The document subsequently identifies Currie as a person who “had been mentioned in Washington investigations of Soviet spy rings.”)

•“[I]n Mexico Kennedy asked Ambassador Mann that certain left-wingers be invited to the Embassy residence where interviews could be held. Mann took the strong position that he would not invite such people and stated that if any such interviews were to be conducted, all arrangements should be made by Kennedy himself.”

All this is certainly consistent with another document in the Kennedy FBI file we uncovered last year, dated March 28, 1963.

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From Reuters:

Planned Parenthood will retrain staff in all clinics on reporting risks to minors’ welfare and tighten disciplinary action to terminate staff in any confirmed instances where policies are not followed, the organization said on Tuesday.

The retraining efforts, beginning immediately through April 1, are for “anyone who has direct patient contact” and reassert Planned Parenthood’s commitment to women’s health care and protecting young people, said spokesman Stuart Schear.

The announcement comes as anti-abortion group Live Action on Tuesday released another undercover video it said shows the health services provider aiding and abetting sexual exploitation of minors.

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